Power Rangers Samurai: The Aftermath of Venjix
by Asian95
Summary: They didn't understand how people could deny that Venjix happened. They were certain the robot apocalypse wasn't a mass hallucination event, because now they had to deal with refugees, the remnants of Venjix's armies, and the Nighlok. Deker can f*ck off because Jayden doesn't have time for his bloodknight crap, he's got hungry mouths to feed, robots to destroy, and Nighlok to kill.


Foreword:

I've always wanted to put RPM into the main universe, and this is my attempt at it. The story will be focused on Samurai though, with the aftermath of Venjix running in the background.

Mostly I've used the actual Power Rangers Samurai, Shinkenger, and a producer's early pilot proposal for Samurai as a base for this (if you're interested, you can find it by googling 'Original Power Rangers Samurai Proposal'). Some things will inevitably change with Venjix in the picture, and other things are changed for the fact that I don't want to just loosely translate Shinkenger, I want to make a new storyline for power rangers.

* * *

Chapter 1: The Last Cities

There was an oddly cheerful vibe in the Garage that morning.

The synthesised climate control was no brighter than usual, but Summer couldn't help but feel hopeful. How could she not? Venjix was finally gone.

The ominous blade that hung above their heads, threatening to fall and slice away the last bastion of humanity at any given moment—gone, just like that. She rolled out of bed several hours earlier, wondering if she had dreamt up the entirety of yesterday. After all, Venjix, the all-knowing, artificial intelligence killed by a building. It was rather anti climatic.

"I think congratulations are in order," Scott announced cheerfully as he arrived in their home for the last three years.

"I think that goes without saying," Flynn laughed, drinking his smoothie with relish, "We should be sleeping in and enjoying our first day off in years. Why are we all up so early?"

"Not that—I mean, it's great that Venjix has been defeated but I wasn't talking about that," Scott placed one hand on Gem's shoulders and the other on Gemma's, "You're looking at two of Eagle Squadron's newest recruits."

Summer turned to the twins in surprise, "Really?" she just couldn't imagine the boom-happy pilots to last two weeks in the military without being court-martialled for going AWOL, sure they've gotten better at the whole teamwork thing since they came, but Dr K often had to send them on extra assignments to burn off all that excess energy.

"Yeah, we get to blow stuff up," Gemma began, eyes glinting the way it did whenever explosions were involved.

"—and get paid for it," Gem finished, giving his sister a high five.

Summer smiled, well that explained it. Scott should be able to rein those two in anyway. It's not like they could run off to blow up Venjix outposts on their own anymore.

"Ah, the gang is all back together," Ziggy declared, spreading his arms out wide as if to hug all of them.

"We didn't go anywhere," Dillon reminded him with amusement.

"Well after a year of not being able to walk three metres with seeing one of you, two days to myself feels weird," Ziggy shrugged, and Summer definitely knew where he came from.

She'd lived with Flynn and Scott for almost two years and not seeing them for the last forty-eight hours was beyond unsettling.

"We're about to leave though," Tenaya added.

"Leave? Go where?" Ziggy asked in surprise, "There's nothing but wasteland out there."

Tenaya blinked, and opened her mouth to say something when Dr K arrived, wheeling a trolley with a familiar silver briefcase on top.

"Series operators, I will need your morphers now," Dr K said as she came to a stop in front of the group.

"How are we going to fight Venjix's army if they don't have morphers?" Tenaya asked, confusion evident all over her face.

"Err…We destroyed Venjix. Remember? Building crashed, boom, no more Venjix," Flynn reminded her.

"You destroyed the leader yes, but that doesn't mean you've destroyed his army," Tenaya said, "Venjix has his army spread out all over the world. There are still a few unconquered cities left."

"Wait, you mean Corinth _isn't_ the last city on Earth?" Scott interjected, "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

"Well obviously Venjix didn't want you to know, it'll boost morale after all," Tenaya shrugged, nonchalantly referring to her days as one of Venjix's generals, "But I thought you knew anyway. Think about it, Venjix wiped out almost seven billion people in three years. Did you really think Corinth would last long if Venjix had been able to throw his undivided attention at you?"

The mood in the Garage sobered up almost immediately, and just like that, there was a blade hanging over their heads again.

"I always did wonder why he never sent out drones to the city," Dr K murmured, "But I always attributed it to his arrogance. How many cities are still fighting Venjix?"

Tenaya grimaced, "Not many, just under a dozen of them in the United States, mostly on the west coast for some reason. Almost all of the drones were focused on attacking the floating island in Colorado."

The others stared at her.

"Floating island?" Dillon repeated with the same incredulous deadpan that he had when first told about people fighting in brightly coloured span— _suits_.

"Mirror people, _mirror_ ," Ziggy reminded them.

"I suppose it's not the strangest thing we've seen this year," Summer reasoned. Ziggy had a point, they really weren't in any position to be judging if something is 'weird'.

"I wonder how many explosions it'll take to level a floating island," Gem murmured thoughtfully.

Scott cut Gemma off with a glare before she could muse aloud, and both twins smiled at him guiltily.

"Dillon and I were going out there to help. Corinth is safe now, but the remainder of Venjix's army is still at large everywhere else," Tenaya said.

Summer glanced at Dr K, "What do we do Doc?"

"I'll talk to Colonel Truman about the recent developments," Dr K said, closing the briefcase with an audible click, "The rest of you, pack a duffle bag."

"Another road trip," Scott sighed, "I don't think dad will let us borrow the Go-Onger again."

* * *

Ji never fancied himself a superstitious man, but his instincts have never failed him before, and they were screaming at him to get his nephew.

The truck trudged along the cracked cement roads at a seemingly infuriating pace. He glared at the dashboard, refusing to look out the windows. He knew what he would see, and he was getting sick of seeing it.

The once prosperous Panorama City in ruins. Just like every other city on this godforsaken planet. The sky high buildings either crumbled, or overgrown with moss and vines, the roads cracked, cement blocks gauged out. The streets covered with glass and debris, the shops in shambles, the smell of burnt metal lingered in the air, and the people who weren't huddled beneath the underground stronghold, were meandering aimlessly along the footpaths they once called home.

Finally the truck pulled up where he wanted—close to the sound of steel screeching against steel. A pillar of smoke rose in the distance, choking the area, and blackening the skies. A figure clad in red jumped down, sword buried into the grinder's chest before his feet touched the ground.

"Ji! What are you doing here!?" the red ranger demanded as he pulled his sword out, "It's not safe!"

"I can look after myself Jayden," Ji waved him off, "Something's not _right._ Don't tell me you can't feel it too."

Jayden snorted, and gestured at everything and nothing, "Look around Ji. Does _anything_ look right to you?"

"You know what I mean," Ji stated, glancing up at the dark sky, "They're coming."

"Coming? They're _here_ ," Jayden stated harshly, in a flash of light he demorphed and Ji could see bitterness written all over his face, "I should've known it was too good to be true. The moment the grinders stopped coming in endlessly, I saw four red demon things appear from a crack between the ground."

Ji placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder. Jayden was buckling under the pressure, and Ji could hardly blame him. Being the sole defender of an entire city for three years was not something he had planned for his seventeen year old nephew.

"We've received news from San Angeles, they say Venjix has been destroyed," Ji said, and it was the first bit of good news he had heard in three years, "The factory is gone, his army is being beaten back now that there aren't endless replacements for every robot destroyed. Everyone has a real fighting chance now."

"Yeah, well it's all moot point isn't it? I saw four marauders today, you know what that means," Jayden said, looking into the cracks between the concrete slabs, as if he could peer into the depths of hell if he stared hard enough.

Ji nodded, he wouldn't pretend otherwise, "If the Nighlok are sending their soldiers to this world, then the Sanzu River must be ready to flood."

Jayden lifted his head and looked directly into his uncle's eyes, "I can't do this anymore."

"Venjix is gone," Ji stated, relishing the words as he spoke them aloud for the first time, "The roads are safer now, you won't be fighting Xandred alone."

* * *

She stirred as frantic yelling filtered through the window.

An explosion rocked the ground in the distance, and instinctively, she rolled out of bed and underneath a table. This was it, she thought in dread, the Venjix army had somehow managed to breach the barrier and enter the mystic realm. They were all doomed and—wait, no.

She listened carefully. People weren't screaming in panic, they were yelling _battle cries._ She crawled out from underneath the table, and grabbed a pen. She twisted off the cap and placed it on the back, and suddenly in the place of the pen, was a sword in her hand.

Cautiously, she opened the door and peered out.

"Emily! What are you doing inside? C'mon!" Her neighbour, a fifteen year old boy shouted excitedly.

She caught his hand before he could drag her across the forest where everyone else was stampeding towards, "What's going on?"

"Haven't you heard? The rangers are fighting the robots!"

She blinked, "What? I thought we were all supposed to stay behind the mystic barrier?"

"They say Venjix has been destroyed! The rangers are going to get rid of the robots and we can all go back to Briarwood. Come on!" the boy ran off to join the others.

Emily moved to follow him, but she turned back into her hut. Hesitantly, she opened the wooden cupboard and pulled out a triangular block with a yellow symbol on it. It was hers now.

Venjix may be gone, but all that meant was now she could move safely to where she needed to be.

* * *

The Jungle Karma Pizza parlour was packed to the brim that afternoon.

The attack bots and grinders have also become increasingly vicious in the last two days with the rangers barely catching an hour's worth of sleep, and poor Fran was being run ragged taking orders, cooking and serving the pizzas all by herself. Those were the only reasons why RJ had let his ward into the kitchen. He would later blame a serious head injury from one of the attack bots for letting his ward into the kitchen _unsupervised._

"One large special pizza coming right up," she announced cheerfully, sliding her creation onto a plate. It landed on the ceramic with an audible thud, "Here you go Fran, table five."

Fran's eyebrows threatened to rise off her face, "Um…Mia, I think you might of…" she trailed off as a pair of bright brown eyes looked at her hopefully.

"Yes? I thought I might've added too much cheese, but you can never get too much cheese, can you?" Mia asked with a frown.

"Erm…No, no, definitely not too much cheese," Fran said weakly, in fact, she could hardly see any cheese underneath the charred black bits on top, "It's great. Truly, _great_. I'm sure they'll love it," and without another word, Fran grabbed the plate and hurried out to the front, wondering how she could possibly serve this without getting the health department set on them—then she remembered, the health department didn't exist anymore.

Before she could think thank small mercies, a man burst into the restaurant, white shirt smoking, hand clutching his chest.

"Dom!" Fran rushed over to help him, "Sit down."

"No," he brushed her arm off his shoulder and staggered into the kitchen, "Mia!"

The teen chef almost dropped the vat of tomato sauce in surprise, "Dominic? What happened!?"

"You need to get out there, we're getting overrun," Dominic huffed, leaning heavily against the table for support, "Venjix is throwing everything it has at us. I don't know what's changed, but the whole city is swarming with grinders and attack bots."

Mia nodded grimly and grabbed her morpher. They didn't ask her to fight very often, RJ actually discouraged it, saying that it was 'not being her time yet' or something to that effect. The fact that they're asking for her right now was beyond troubling.

"It's morphin' time."

* * *

"Eat this, Shoryuken! Ha!" a boy in a green hoodie exclaimed, jamming his fingers onto the console buttons.

"Oh come _on,_ you can't use that move three times in a row!" his friends complained as the screen flashed with bright red and orange letters, K.O.

"Admit it, I'm the King of Street Fighter," the boy in green declared, slapping his friend on the back, "Who's next?"

"Mike!" a deep voice called out.

He resisted the urge to groan, "Yes dad?" his father was going to kill him.

"Uh, bye Mike," he friend said, getting up to go.

"Yeah, see ya later man," another moved.

"How many times have I caught you truanting at Ernie's playing _videogames_? I told you four weeks ago that it would be the last time," his dad droned on and on about responsibility and blah, blah blah.

"What's the point dad? Why should I study? What am I going to do? Go to college and get a degree? It's the end of the world, and it's only a matter of time before Venjix discovers that the rangers have cloaked Angel Grove, so I'm going to enjoy this while I still can," Mike stated stubbornly.

"Funny you should mention that. As it is, Venjix has been defeated."

Mike could _feel_ the air going colder at those words, "What?"

"Venjix is gone, and it's about time you take on some responsibility. You should've been fighting Venjix with the rangers, but I let you sit around playing videogames because your mother insisted you were too young. Now that there are no more factories producing grinders, the rangers will defeat what remains of Venjix's army, and you _will_ go to Panorama City," his dad threw a pen and square block with a green symbol on top in his lap.

"But dad," Mike protested as the Foldingzord shifted in his lap, "I—

"—You will go to Panorama City and do your duty as a descendant of one of the four vassal families. I will hear no more about it Michael. I have arranged for transport to take to you there tomorrow morning."

"Dad—

"—Do not disappoint me, son."

* * *

"Captain Grayson, you called me to this meeting?" a boy in blue asked, wondering why on Earth had he been invited to what looked like a Power Ranger's meeting. Sure, technically he was a ranger, but he wasn't part of this team, and he wasn't even allowed to go out and fight when they did.

It took a slight second for Carter to nod, "Yes, take a seat Kevin," he gestured to the empty chair next to Joel. He still wasn't quite used to being addressed as 'Captain' anything. But now was not the time for doubts and second guessing, he pointed to one of the many display screens on the Aquabase, "We just got news from San Angeles, Venjix has been defeated."

Now it made sense to Kevin. He needed to be alerted when Venjix was gone. After four long years, he was starting to think it would never happen, but it has and he needed to get his butt to Panorama City.

"San Angeles…The Overdrive rangers?" Kelsey asked in surprise, "How would they know?"

"Andrew Hartford managed to build satellites that could block the Venjix virus, he's been keeping an eye on the situation in Corinth for past two years," Dana explained, "but, if it's true that Venjix is gone, then shouldn't we be making the announcement public?" she turned to Carter in confusion. Morale had been at an all-time low, and fantastic news like this should've been broadcasted on the loudspeakers, along with music, and probably non-regulation streamers and party poppers.

Carter's expression remained grim, "If only it were that easy. Venjix might be gone, but his soldiers don't just magically drop dead if he dies."

Kevin's eyes widened in realisation, "A power vacuum."

"Exactly. Venjix's remaining generals are squabbling over the right to take over the empire. The main fortress has been destroyed, so the generals have decided that the best way to take Venjix's spot would be to occupy the city that they're currently warring against and operate from there. Attacks on Blue Bay Harbour, Mariner Bay and Ocean Bluff have increased tenfold," Carter said grimly.

"Is there _any_ bit of good news in this? I mean, come on guys, _Venjix has been defeated._ There's no way that could only result in bad things," Joel pointed out, "I refuse to believe that _everything_ following 'Venjix has been defeated' is bad news."

"Well according to our latest reports, Briarwood, San Angeles and Silverhills have almost completely wiped out Venjix occupation in their cities," Carter said, "Good news can wait. We've got a city to defend."

"You mean ruins," Chad muttered, "Everyone's down here on the Aquabase."

Carter ignored him, and turned to Kevin, "I know you have to go to Panorama City when Venjix is gone, but you're going to have to fight through a horde of Grinders before that."

Kevin pulled out his morpher, "It's morphin' time."

* * *

The Samurai foot soldiers 'Moogers' have been changed to the original proposed name 'Marauders', because I refuse to have to take 'Moogers' seriously. Those things are among the most threatening-looking foot soldiers in PR, I refuse to call them something that looks like 'booger'.

I've also changed the morphers, I guess I'm just a fan of discreet morphers, instead of bulking 'hey look, I'm a power ranger!' artifacts. I'm sure a few people would recognise the pen-sword gimmick from another fantasy book, sorry, I can't help myself :) It's also convenient because they have a tendency to pull their swords out from nowhere...

Anyway, got any suggestions? Like it? Hate it? Let me know (although I'd also appreciate it if you tell me why).


End file.
